DL Jonathan Fanene to be released?

[Deus Irae]

Why not? They've already spent almost $4M for the opportunity, what's $900K at this point?

Full, or nearly full, veteran minimum for a replacement player, as needed

 

[MoLewisrocks]

The other factor that could be in play here is attitude and toughness. Bedard is recalling a conversation he had with Cincy's coach, the same guy who said Bill wouldn't be foolish enough to take on Ocho. He told Bedard that he didn't think Fanene would do well here because of the demanding nature of the market and organization. Maybe he anticipated PUP was a given if he was experiencing some discomfort after taking his signing bonus money to the bank and struggled with the concept of them expecting him to at least try and push through it. And maybe having sized each other up they regretted their mutual decision (except of course in Fanene's case on getting that signing bonus up front).

When another organization is willing to part company with a veteran player or allow him to walk away in FA, you always need to thoroughly ponder why that might be... Sometimes they're stupid or sometimes they just weren't a good fit. But often times it's because they know something you don't.

 

[captain stone]

Full, or nearly full, veteran minimum for a replacement player, as needed

That's a possibility. Maybe Tim Bulman gets a longer look, too.

 

[mayoclinic]

Bedard with a nice read on the Fanene debacle:

Thoughts on Fanene - Extra Points - Boston.com

 

[Joker]

debacle???

It's not a huge mistake, but you have to wonder why it happened. Very unlike the Patriots.

de·ba·cle (d-bäkl, -bkl, db-kl)
n.
1. A sudden, disastrous collapse, downfall, or defeat; a rout.
2. A total, often ludicrous failure.
3. The breaking up of ice in a river.
4. A violent flood.

searching for reasons to be paranoid and/or skeptical?

perhaps they see something in a rookie that they think is equal to what Fanene had to offer..in which case they're willing to eat some money. How much is a Bequette going to eat up in cap?

debacle...that's pretty knee jerk Borges material

 

[edboc]

Ross Tucker ‏@RossTuckerNFL
According to NFL source, Pats cut Fanene under "Failure to Disclose Physical Condition". Likely going after that $3.85M SB he got.

https://twitter.com/RossTuckerNFL

 

[goheels22002]

Interesting tweet. He passed his physical and made it to 4 days of camp. He was injured on the 2nd day of OTAs in June.

Fanene, Cunningham Among Sidelined On Day 2 Of Minicamp - Pats Pulpit

Fanene showed up and toughed it out for a couple of days when there were mandatory activities - just long enough to be in the picture and then couldn't go - twice.

Sounds like Fanene had a plan here, unless there is a more medically serious issue than a fitness or knee problem which they would have picked up. We'll probably never find out.

 

[Marqui]

Ross Tucker ‏@RossTuckerNFL
According to NFL source, Pats cut Fanene under "Failure to Disclose Physical Condition". Likely going after that $3.85M SB he got.

https://twitter.com/RossTuckerNFL

Ok, not this is starting to make more sense.

 

[UK_Pat37]

Crafty bugger! So basically, we just got robbed and Fanene earned himself a nice little $3.85M retirement package potentially?

 

[IcyPatriot]

Crafty bugger! So basically, we just got robbed and Fanene earned himself a nice little $3.85M retirement package potentially?

Let's hope Fanene didn't invest all the money in Facebook stock.

 

[Off The Grid]

Let's hope Fanene didn't invest all the money in Facebook stock.

Hah!! Let's hope he did!!

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Well, this is fascinating and could get ugly. Teams have access to players full medical records as well as doing their own physical prior to signing. They will have to prove he had a condition he was aware of at the time of signing that wasn't documented in his records or apparent on exam that he failed to disclose it to them. Kind of the opposite of the situation our old pal David Givens claimed unfolded in Tennessee where he contended they discovered how bad his knee was based on their examinations and he was unaware and they never informed him of their findings before signing and playing him. Tough to prevail in those cases. Arbitrator sorts it out and decides. Perhaps the sides agree on an injury settlement. Really depends on whether Fanene wants/intends to play again. Players don't want to be labled as chronically damaged if they are looking for another deal going forward because teams will be reluctant to commit to guarantees or insist on split contracts.

Fanene has already gone on record via Clayton claiming the team was aware of an issue prior to TC and opted to practice him rather than place him on PUP. And the local media seemed to be of the opinion his TC absence was related to aggrevating an existing knee condition early in camp and being characterized as more precautionary than season threatening. He'd been active in OTA's. His earlier injury troubles in Cincy were all reported to be hamstring related. He missed a lot of time early on (2005-2006) but Cincy extended him for 3 years as a RFA and recently he missed most of the 2010 season - but again due to hammy problems.

Polian persued big ticket FA DT Corey Simon he signed in 2006 (after the Eagles recinded his franchise tag in July reportedly over concerns about his conditioning and motivation) He was diagnosed in 2007 with a chronic autoimmune arthritic condition after playing in a handful of games in his first season and spending most of his time in Indy on IR. Polian contended it was genetic in nature and a NFI (as opposed to simply a bad investment) while the player claimed it developed as a result of cumulative injuries and procedures and entirely football related and exacerbated by his initial in season and later TC injuries suffered while in Indy. Never did hear any outcome on that. Don't think Indy prevailed as fans biatched about his dead cap for 2 years. This case sounds awefully similar.

Pats may be doing this because they have come to believe he lacks the self motivation/drive or mental toughness to succeed here. That's a scouting/FO mistake. Cincy admits to having essentially managed him through these kind of situations in the past. I wouldn't just jump to the conclusion this was calculated, more likely just a bad fit and choice by both sides for other than schematic reasons... Kinda like Chad. And beyond 2007, Dillon. As Bedard says, enough already with the former Bengal signings.

His dead cap will remain unless they prevail in arbitration or reach a settlement with him and they recoup any of the $3.85M signing bonus they paid him. Bedard has the dead cap split as $2.025M this season and $1.925 in 2013 (different than Jason who has $1.38M this year and the balance in 2013). According to Reiss the Pats had structured his signing bonus so $1.35M of it was deferred for cash payment purposes until 2013 (not unusual here to defer actual payment and the league allows teams to for cash flow purposes within a 12 month period). But that doesn't effect the guaranteed nature of the bonus or it's cap treatment. Would only in this case make it easier to recoup money if they did prevail in arbitration as they still hold those cash funds. That might form the basis for a settlement. Probably going to depend on how things go for him if he has that reported procedure and whether he encounters difficulty in signing on elsewhere. Cincy might well take him back on a deal with minimal guarantees.

Thoughts on Fanene - Extra Points - Boston.com

 

[DaBruinz]

Jonathan Fanene & his signing bonus - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

Here is one additional note: Of that $3.85 million signing bonus, $1.35 million was deferred until March 31, 2013. One would think the Patriots will attempt to at least keep that portion of the signing bonus.

He only received 2.5 of the 3.85 million..

This is going to get ugly..

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Jonathan Fanene & his signing bonus - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston



He only received 2.5 of the 3.85 million..

This is going to get ugly..

It could or it could form the basis for a settlement. They remain contractually obligated to pay him the money unless an arbitrator rules in their favor and that's not likely unless they have some smoking gun evidence of a concealed prior injury. The owness will be all on them to prove any such allegation, Fanene doesn't have to disprove their allegation - the presumption is his signing bonus is earned when the contract is signed. And the fact that there is documentation he was injured in OTA's and then suffered an apparent recurrence in TC (which is preceded by another physical and a conditioning test) doesn't bode well for them culpability wise if there is anything going on with that knee. This is why teams are often reluctant to have players show up in certain situations. Once you do you're generally on the hook for whatever transpires short of proving you were somehow intentionally defrauded. Even if you later come to believe you were misled or set up...it's awefully tough to prove given the nature of the business of playing football.

 

[The Scrizz]

Or it is possible that they both know that he can have the surgery and be back in a few months and don't want him IR'ed for the year but also can't save the roster spot.

That would seem to be a mutually beneficial agreement to come to. Maybe they were hoping the 8 week IR would come through (idiotic that the players wouldn't agree to it). This would seem to be the next best thing and as has been noted there is precedent.

Or I could be completely wrong and it basically boils down to the Pats realizing that this guy is a *****.

 

[DefenseRules]

Did the NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS publicly say that they are going after his signing bonus? Look, I have learned a long time ago that in cases like these, until they say something publicly and/or actually do it, all this stuff is something for the media to debate about. The report is that they "COULD" go after some of his signing bonus, not that "they will". Talk radio will fill up their programming with it, NFL network and ESPN will run on and on about it. Besides, what else is there to talk about when it comes to the Patriots?
This is on the Patriots, IMO. Didn't they perform a physical before they signed him? Let the guy go, and move on. They F'd up, IMO. We will all have to just wait and see.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Did the NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS publicly say that they are going after his signing bonus? Look, I have learned a long time ago that in cases like these, until they say something publicly and/or actually do it, all this stuff is something for the media to debate about. The report is that they "COULD" go after some of his signing bonus, not that "they will". Talk radio will fill up their programming with it, NFL network and ESPN will run on and on about it. Besides, what else is there to talk about when it comes to the Patriots?
This is on the Patriots, IMO. Didn't they perform a physical before they signed him? Let the guy go, and move on. They F'd up, IMO. We will all have to just wait and see.

The Pats (almost) never reveal internal deliberations, so I agree with you on that part.

OTOH, we are in uncharted territory here, since the Pats have never had a situation like this (large signing bonus AND released the same season).

 

[ctpatsfan77]

The owness will be all on them to prove any such allegation,

I had to stop and think if you mistyped "owners" here before realizing that the word you're looking for is onus.

 

[BradyManny]

This is why teams are often reluctant to have players show up in certain situations. Once you do you're generally on the hook for whatever transpires short of proving you were somehow intentionally defrauded. Even if you later come to believe you were misled or set up...it's awefully tough to prove given the nature of the business of playing football.

The fact that the Patriots are going after his signing bonus money is the first thing to make sense in this mess. There's no real reason to cut him now otherwise. I have to think the Patriots feel like they would recoup at least some of that money otherwise they would not have cut him. They've never so quickly cut loose such a large investment otherwise, this is truly unprecedented.

Even Ochocinco was given a year and a chunk of offseason to prove his worth before they called it a day.

 

[BradyManny]

OTOH, we are in uncharted territory here, since the Pats have never had a situation like this (large signing bonus AND released the same season).

I agree. This is truly uncharted. The only thing that has made any sense thus far is that the Patriots cut him knowing or thinking some of the signing bonus money would be coming back there where.

Because none of the reasons given for why they would cut him right now ring true to me.